21.9.16

The Birmingham Derby in the 19th Century

Birmingham (City since 1943) have always , to my mind, occupied a strange position in English football. Bearing the name of the second city and being at the heart of one of the hotbeds of the Association game (the West Midlands), they have, however, always been a relatively minor club, perennially unsuccessful, never glamorous.
Their neighbours, Aston Villa, bearing the name of a crossroads in Handsworth, are aristocrats of the game; founders of the Football League, giants of the FA Cup, winners of the double, tenants of one of the first great stadiums in the world game.
Let's take a look at how things were between these rivals in the 19th century.
Aston Villa was founded in 1874.
Birmingham started out in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance. They became Small Heath (Small Heath F.C. Ltd- the first limited company in football) in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905.
From 1876–1897 Villa played at Wellington Road. Small Heath's ground was Muntz Street. The 2 were 8 km apart.